NEW DELHI: Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde landed himself in a soup after during a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on the violence in Assam when he told Samajwadi Party (SP) member Jaya Bachchan that it was 'not a filmy issue' triggering an uproar in the house.
Shinde later apologised saying that Jaya Bachchan was like his sister and that the remark should be deleted.
Amid the uproar from SP and other opposition members, Shinde tried to clarify what he meant. "I know her whole family, I respect her a lot. I am also from Mumbai."
The actor-turned-politician refused to be pacified. "I cannot accept this," Bachchan said.
Shinde then said: "I apologise, she is my sister." He agreed that the remark should be deleted from the records.
But Shinde also said the way he was interrupted by Jaya Bachchan was unparliamentary.
Shinde was replying to a debate on the Assam violence, when Jaya Bachchan expressed her unhappiness by saying that the home minister was not replying to questions asked by members.
To which Shinde told Jaya Bachchan, "This is a serious issue. This is not the subject of a film."
Jaya Bachchan was strongly backed by Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley, who wanted the comment to be deleted.
"This is a house where people, who are achievers in a lot of fields, become members. Jayaji is an achiever in her field, the home minister of India cannot use it as a taunt," Jaitley said.
Take a look at the scenes from the 50th International Paris Air Show, 2013. It is considered as the world's largest aviation and space industry show, and takes place at Le Bourget airport June 17-23.